Kindle Fire to Hit UK in January?

There’s a rumor going around today that says just that, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

The UK based tech blog Know Your Mobile has an exclusive tip that the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s new 7″ Android tablet, is going to be lunched in the UK next month. They went on to add that “Our source didn’t reveal much else in the way of details – they said nothing about pricing or an exact date – but we’d assume that Amazon will keep the price tag nice and aggressive, just as it did in the US.”

Don’t start planning you January gadget budget just yet; there’s a minor problem with this rumor.

One reason that the Kindle Fire is so cheap is that Amazon uses it as a digital storefront. It’s there chance to get your eyeballs looking at music, video, apps, and ebooks that they sell. While Amazon does sell mp3, video, and ebooks in the UK, they have not opened the UK Appstore yet.

One of the 4 types of digital content available via the Kindle Fire cannot be had via the UK. That cuts down on Amazon’s potential profit, which makes it less likely that they will launch the KF there. In fact, the Amazon Appstore is a vital component of the Kindle Fire and the KF cannot operate without it.

Of course, Amazon could launch the Appstore at the same time as the UK launch of the Kindle Fire. That wouldn’t surprise me, but until i hear that Amazon will launch a UK Appstore I won’t believe these rumors.